[send power stones please]
For a full ten-plus minutes…
…the apocalypse finally began to settle.
The scene on the island gradually came into view.
The island had split into five pieces.
Every surface was stripped bare—bald rock everywhere—only the occasional half-destroyed plant husk or animal corpse remained.
Unrecognizable.
At the center fragment—
the lion was gone.
The Wood Dragon was still there…
…but only a short, broken segment remained—barely over ten meters long. One horn had snapped off.
If you looked closely, it was regenerating.
But so slowly you could barely see it.
Inside the coiled, shattered body—
Shiki gripped Oto and Kogarashi, his two Supreme Grade blades, and fought like a trapped beast.
He no longer looked anything like the man from earlier.
His black cloak was shredded.
Dozens of wounds were dripping blood.
Even his golden hair looked dried and brittle.
"So that's it!"
Shiki felt the energy draining out of him.
His teeth clenched so hard it looked painful.
Now he finally understood why Lion Threat: Imperial Earth Scroll had lost.
This dragon could absorb energy.
It was the perfect counter to his ultimate move.
"Tch—!"
Shiki spat out a bloodied glob.
His face twisted with pure resentment.
He forced up one last breath, coated himself in Armament Haki, and tried to wrench his way out—
but he'd spent too much.
He couldn't break free.
The dragon only tightened.
His face turned a deep, ugly red.
"Stop struggling," a calm voice said.
"You'll feel better."
Romu was delivered forward on a thick vine, arriving in front of Shiki.
He was wounded too.
And his healing was slower than before.
He looked rough.
But there was no doubt who had won.
Shiki forced a harsh laugh.
"Shi-shi… you little—"
The dragon constricted again.
Shiki couldn't even finish the sentence.
Romu shook his head and didn't bother arguing.
He felt the weakness in his own body and his expression grew serious.
If that bastard had fused the lion swarm from the beginning…
Who wins, who loses—hard to say.
So my strength still isn't enough.
I need to climb higher.
A cold glint flashed in Romu's eyes as he looked at Shiki.
Then it faded back into calm.
Forget it.
Killing Shiki isn't worth provoking Rocks.
Newgate is nearby too…
And Shiki probably still has a suicidal last resort.
No need to gamble.
And Romu wasn't wrong.
The moment he sensed killing intent, Shiki had already decided—
if it came to it, he'd drag Romu down with him.
At that moment, a pirate ship docked at the shore.
Newgate and the others had arrived.
"Hey, rooster—weren't you gonna beat him with one hand?"
"HAHAHAHA!"
"Forget the cigar—hand it over to me!"
"…"
Wang Zhi, Silver Axe, and John laughed out loud at Shiki's miserable state.
But Shiki said nothing.
He silently rubbed the marks around his wrist where he'd been bound.
He glanced at Romu—
then floated back to the ship.
He leaned against the mast, head lowered, and sat on the deck without a word.
He'd shut down.
Yeah.
The legendary "Flying Pirate" Shiki…
…had gone completely silent.
Ever since he'd set sail, he'd never tasted defeat.
And now—of all places—he'd taken a brutal hit on some worthless patch of sea.
Shiki wasn't the type who couldn't accept losing.
He could.
What he couldn't accept…
…was losing to a kid who wasn't even twenty.
And worse—
Romu hadn't won with schemes or tricks.
They'd fought to the end, straight up, with raw strength.
He'd been beaten—clean.
And then saved by Newgate and the others.
His mindset shattered on the spot.
"Romu… Romu… Romu…"
Shiki muttered under his breath, drawing circles on the deck like a sulking child.
Wang Zhi and the others froze.
The vibe suddenly turned… weird.
They stopped kicking him while he was down.
Then they all looked to Newgate.
Newgate understood immediately and nodded once.
Wang Zhi, Silver Axe, and John turned and headed back to the ship.
Newgate walked up to Romu and slapped his shoulder hard.
His expression was serious.
"Well done."
"You've proven you deserve to be a captain in Rocks' crew."
"You coming back to Hachinosu with us?"
Romu thought for a moment.
Then shook his head.
"Not yet."
"I'll go in a few days."
Newgate didn't push.
He could tell Romu had his own plan.
"Alright."
"Then we'll move first."
"See you at Hachinosu!"
"Gurararara!"
With that, the towering man slung Murakumogiri over his shoulder and strode away laughing.
"Whew…"
Romu exhaled and collapsed onto a vine.
The exhaustion finally hit his face.
Beating Shiki…
was nowhere near as easy as it looked.
There were plenty of reasons he'd refused to return with them.
But the biggest one was simple:
Right now, he was weakened.
It was probably safe.
But—
better safe than sorry.
"Damn…"
"It hurts like hell…"
The curse slipped out naturally.
Romu bared his teeth and clutched the wound that was still healing far too slowly.
The Next Day
On a stretch of deep blue sea…
a massive ship painted in blue and white sailed forward at a steady pace.
A tall mast rose into the sky.
A white flag snapped in the wind.
The emblem was simple:
a seagull standing on a set of scales.
And beneath it, the bold letters:
MARINE
No doubt about it.
The strongest force in the world—
the Marine .
The seagull and scales represented absolute peace and justice.
This was a Marine warship.
On deck, more than a hundred sailors in blue-and-white uniforms drilled in formation, shouting crisp chants.
At the front stood a towering figure.
A coat of "Justice" on his back.
Purple hair shining under the sun.
It was none other than the man who had volunteered to capture Romu—
"Black Arm" Zephyr.
[Author's Note]
I originally considered having the protagonist form his own pirate crew to compete with Roger and Rocks. But after thinking it through, it didn't feel realistic. In this era, Rocks' crew is the true monster nest—almost every future top-tier pirate is either already there… or hasn't even been born yet. Even if the MC wanted to build a crew, where would he find members?
So after weighing it, I decided: join Rocks, become a captain, and first subdue the young Kaido.